My Gift Is “Beauty”. I Think It’s Useless, but It Seems to Be an S-Rank Gift With the Strongest Buff Effect for Beautiful Girls - Chapter 17.2: Hibiki Gets Found Out

Chapter 17.2: Hibiki Gets Found Out

Hearing that, Himari and Umirin looked at each other.

Hibiki looked shy while she explained, like a girl in love. Both of them thought—this was definitely real.

“Huh… now that I look closely, Takanashi looks kind of handsome?”

“Oh, yeah. What changed? I haven’t seen him in a while, so I can’t tell.”

Umirin pointed it out, and Himari tilted her head.

Hiroyo wasn’t exactly a loner, but he wasn’t outgoing either. He was just average. So he didn’t have any features that made girls like him at first glance.

“I didn’t really change anything. The reason I got close to Hibiki was honestly just luck.”

“Huh. So you can talk normally after all.”

“I thought you were too shy to talk with us.”

(Did he get used to being around pretty girls…?)

Three months ago, even Hiroyo was timid around Hibiki. But as they got closer, he naturally grew more comfortable. And then there was Koharu and Kirino too. It was clear Hiroyo had developed a tolerance for pretty girls.

“So that means Takanashi didn’t threaten Hibiki or force her into anything?”

“Hey, Hima! There are things you should and shouldn’t say. Hiroyo isn’t like that!”

Hibiki got angry at Himari’s comment.

“Sorry, Hibiki~… But you know, if you were in our shoes, you’d think the same thing, right?”

“Well… maybe. But Hiroyo and I are properly dating! There’s no threatening or anything like that!”

“You really do like Takanashi, huh?”

“That’s why we’re dating~!”

Even now, Himari and Umirin still couldn’t fully believe the two were dating. Hibiki did show obvious signs of affection, but they still weren’t totally convinced.

They just couldn’t see what about Hiroyo made someone as cute as Hibiki fall for him.

There are kind guys everywhere, and there are plenty of guys who look like Hiroyo.

And yet, out of all of them, Hibiki chose Hiroyo.

Still, at this point, the two girls had no choice but to believe Hibiki’s words.

“No wonder you’re glowing lately. You totally have that ‘in love’ vibe!”

“…Have you two already done it?”

“Hey! Watch how you say that!”

(It’s not just that we’ve done it… We’ve been doing it nonstop…)

Hibiki thought to herself.

Their relationship had gotten way too intense right from the start. They’d already done things that went far beyond what the others could imagine.

So she had decided not to talk about their nights together.

“But I’m kinda jealous~. Lately, Hibiki, you’ve looked so happy.”

“…Ah, every time I walked into class, I actually wanted to greet Takanashi!”

“So that’s why! You always had that awkward face.”

“I mean, if someone you like is in your class, you wanna say ‘Good morning!’ right?”

“Then why not do it?”

“Huh?”

“Just start doing it from tomorrow.”

Hibiki had been holding back from greeting Hiroyo before. She hadn’t thought about making their relationship public, but now that they were dating, she felt it was okay to tell a few close friends.

“Hiroyo… is that okay?”

Hibiki looked up at him with teary eyes, trying to be cute.

“If you want it that much, I’m fine with it. But… it’s kinda embarrassing.”

“I’m not saying we should announce we’re dating or anything. I just mean, can’t we at least greet and talk like normal?”

“If it’s just that… then okay. You were holding back too, right? Sorry I didn’t notice.”

“Hiroseee~!”

Hearing that made Hibiki so happy, she let out a spoiled voice.

If they were sitting next to each other, she probably would have hugged him tight.

“Whoa.”

“So this is what they’re like.”

Seeing Hibiki like that, Himari and Umirin realized the two really were close.

And Hiroyo and Hibiki were relieved that no one suspected them about their Gifts or Skills.

◇　◇　◇

—The next day, at school.

“Hey hey, can I call you Hiroyo too? Oh, and you can call me Himari or Hima!”

“Then I’ll call you Hiroyo too! You can call me Umirin, okay?”

“…That’s fine for you two, but it’s kinda awkward for me to suddenly start calling you by name.”

That morning, before homeroom, Hiroyo was surrounded by Himari and Umirin in the classroom.

They were sitting at the right and behind Hiroyo, borrowing desks that belonged to students who hadn’t arrived yet.

In the seat in front of Hiroyo sat his friend, Yamato Kuzuhara, who looked shocked and confused by what was happening.

“Hey, Hiroyo! What the hell did you do!? What’s going on!?”

“A lot happened…”

“Also, you’ve changed lately. Like, you kinda got cooler or something… though you still look pretty much the same.”

Yamato stared at Hiroyo. But since they were always together, he didn’t notice much change. Hiroyo’s skin had definitely become clearer, but that was about it.

“Kuzuhara, right? You wanna talk with us too?”

“Huh!?”

“Perks of being around, maybe~? Ahaha.”

As Yamato tried to talk, Himari and Umirin teased him a bit.

They laughed at how flustered he got.

“Aah! What are you doing!!”

At that moment, Hibiki arrived and saw through the open classroom door that Hiroyo was surrounded by the two girls.

Hibiki had planned to greet Hiroyo and talk to him as soon as she got to school.

But they beat her to it—

“Hey! Hima, Umirin! Why are you talking to Hiroyo before me!?”

She spoke so loudly that everyone in the classroom could hear her, and the other students started to murmur.

“Wait, Takanashi…?”

“Takanashi and Rindou? And even Motoya and Ihara…?”

“What did he do? He wasn’t like this last week, was he?”

The obvious change made the class turn their attention toward Hiroyo’s seat.

But Hibiki didn’t care.

“What? You said we could talk to him.”

“Yeah. If Hibiki’s gonna talk, of course we are too.”

“Don’t ‘of course’ me! I wanted to talk to him first~!”

Still holding her bag, Hibiki marched straight to Hiroyo’s seat.

“Kuzuhara-kun!”

“Yes!?”

“Switch seats with me!”

“Huh!? Uh… okay.”

“Thanks!”

Overwhelmed by Hibiki’s energy, Yamato gave up his seat.

Now, sitting by the window, Hiroyo was completely surrounded by the three girls.

“—Hiroyo. You don’t have to talk to those two, okay? Let’s just talk, you and me.”

“Hey, Hibiki~ we’re classmates too, you know. Don’t hog him.”

“Yeah! We’ve got the right to talk to him too!”

“Just go back to your seats! Do you have any idea how much I was looking forward to talking to Hiroyo in class!?”

“Ahahaha…”

Hiroyo gave a wry smile at their exchange.

Soon after this, everyone in class found out that Hibiki and Hiroyo were dating.

Everyone was shocked, saying things like, “Why Takanashi?”

But no one in the classroom actually knew the reason why they were together. Not even Himari or Umirin knew the real story.

This event was the start of Hiroyo suddenly rising to the top of the class hierarchy.